Momo Karuizawa
Momo Karuizawa (軽井沢 もも Karuizawa Momo) is one of the characters introduced in Project Justice, the sequel to Rival Schools: United By Fate. About Momo Momo, "Crash the Heart!" She may still look like a kid, but she actually has a naughty and impish personality. On top of that, she's cruel and atrocious, making her someone not to mess with, considering she can make powerful plays despite her small size. When she was introduced in Project Justice, she actually pretended to have been bullied by Batsu, who actually was Kurow in disguise. Troubled by this, Shoma offers his help, unaware of the girl's evil scheme. Natsu, on her part, immediately develops a mistrust on Momo for some reason she can't explain. This causes an argument between Natsu and Shoma, who, after a fight, decided to separate ways: Shoma on a misadventure to help Momo; and Natsu and Roberto eventually meeting up with Nagare to eventually find Shoma's whereabouts. Shoma is eventually betrayed by Momo after the two defeat the Pacific High team of Boman, Roy, Tiffany, and their Taiyo High companions Ran and the Chairperson. The quintet was finally able to knock some sense back into Shoma, who realized that Momo used him all along to create discord among the schools in Aoharu City. Upon heading to a mountain area, Momo reveals to Shoma her true nature, and that she is actually part of the Darkside Student Congress headed by Kurow. After Kurow's defeat to the reunited Gorin team, the ninja then betrays Momo, only for him to suffer a bloody defeat to Hyo. The team, now with Momo's assistance, defeat the possessed Hyo and escape the burning Justice High building. Two weeks later, life returns to normal, and Momo's infatuation with Shoma finally becomes real, much to Natsu's chagrin, creating a tense love triangle among the three. Natsu, in fact, actually wanted Momo to be expelled from Gorin High after the incident that nearly destroyed their friendship with their own schoolmates, and those from other schools as well. Arsenal, Combat Style, and Fighting Strategy Momo, despite her small size, is one of the strongest characters in Project Justice. Being the smallest, some attacks from opponents will need more timing and precision for them to connect. Most of Momo's moves make use of her tennis racquet. Because she wields a weapon, she is able to deflect simple projectile attacks back to her opponent. Her Team-Up assist is one of the three most damaging Team-Up techniques in the game, tied with Gan's and Shoma's in terms of damage rating. 'Special Attacks' *'Whale Serve' (ほえーる・サーブ) - Momo serves a tennis ball. While it travels diagonally downwards, it bounces back up perpendicular to the ground, which can catch novice players unaware. It will entirely miss at close range. The Serve and Volley can follow after this. *'Serve and Volley' (サーブ・あんど・ボレー) - This is done immediately after the Whale Serve. Momo dashes after the ball and swings her racquet. If blocked, however, the opponent has ample time for a Tardy Counter. *'Spin Smash' (スピン・スマッシュ) - To be more technically correct, Momo actually does two to three rolling smash strikes while in the air. The two-hit version has her landing on her feet, while the three-hit version has her landing face-first on the ground, making her vulnerable if blocked, or if it misses. Think of Zero's aerial rolling slash techniques in Mega Man X and Mega Man Zero. Click here for a good idea of how this move would look. *'Rocket Racquet' (ロケット・ラケット) - Momo does a jumping attack with her racquet. It has fast startup deals high damage, and is a decent anti-air move. If blocked, however, she is completely vulnerable while landing back to the ground. *'Giant Swing' (ジャイアント・スイング) - Momo's unblockable special throw maneuver. She grabs on one of the opponent's legs, spins the opponent around, then finally throws the latter some good distance away. This is the same move used by many other characters including Wolf Hawkfield. *'Flapping Racquet' (Japanese: バタバタ・ラケット Batabata Racquet) - This is an air-only move. Momo whacks her opponent repeatedly for up to six times, which can be accomplished by repeatedly pressing the punch button for this attack's button combination. A good Air Combo finisher, but not very damaging. 'Burning Vigor Attacks' *'Dadakko Attack' (だだっこあたっく) - Said to be a ground version of the Flapping Racquet, but looks more like a powered version of the Serve and Volley. Momo dashes towards the opponent, whacks the latter repeatedly, and lands face-first into the ground. Because of the recovery delay, this is best reserved as a Textbook Combo finisher. *'Momo Crush' (もも・クラッシュ) - On the ground, this is a powered version of the Rocket Racquet and the Spin Smash. Momo sends the opponent skyward, then follows with multiple downward Spin Smashes in quick succession. If done in the air, the Rocket Racquet is entirely omitted; Momo immediately does the Spin Smashes. The higher the altitude, the more Spin Smahes Momo does. Either way, this move has very fast startup, but the recovery delay is something of concern, since she lands to the ground, rolling and disoriented. 'Team-Up Technique' *'Human Wall' (Japanese: 人間壁打ち Ningen Kabeuchi) - The active character grabs the opponent's ankles, effectively immobilizing the latter. Momo then makes a practice target out of the opponent by repeatedly lobbing a tennis ball aimed towards the opponent. As a final strike, Momo does a forward rolling smash that effectively disengages the opponent from the active character's grasp. This assist has very high priority compared to other Team-Up techniques. 'Party-Up Technique' *Momo does the Hot-Blooded Giant Wheel. Trivia * Because she lives alone in the Gorin dorm, her family life remains undisclosed to this day. * She sometimes models for a maker of children's clothes (although it seems that she doesn't know she models children's clothes). * She loves art, but her performance in this subject remains undisclosed to this day. She fares poorly in home economics. * She is voiced by Rei Sakuma. References 'Game and Character Information' Nguyen, John. Project Justice FAQ/Move List by Puar. GameFAQs.com. Published 2001. Last accessed 14 March 2010. Tsai, Peter. FAQ/Movelist for Project Justice (Moero! Justice Gakuen) for Dreamcast/Arcade. Version 1.07. GameFAQs.com. Published 17 July 2002; last updated 13 March 2003. Last accessed 14 March 2010. Cheshire, Sophie. Project Justice: FAQ/Move List by falsehead. Final version. GameFAQs.com. Published 5 November 2001; final update 7 December 2002. Last accessed 14 March 2010. Batsu, the Doctor of Punishment. Shiritsu Justice Gakuen/Rival Schools series: Character Stories FAQ. Version 1.5 (final). GameFAQs.com. Last accessed 14 March 2010. NeoChaosX. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_characters_in_the_Rival_Schools_series List of characters in the Rival Schools series]. Wikipedia (English). Created 20 August 2007; last updated 30 March 2010. Last accessed 1 April 2010. 'Translations' Kanji translations made possible through the Kanji Romaji Hiragana Convert website. Maruyama, Chiemi. English-Kanji-Japanese/Japanese-Kanji-English Dictionary. Pasig City, Philippines: Persian Gulf Publication, 2002. ISBN 978-971-8796-37. Nakao, Seigo. Random House Japanese-English/English-Japanese Dictionary. United States: Ballantine Books, 1995. ISBN 0-345-40548-X. Category:Rival Schools Characters Category:Characters Category:Heroines Category:Female Characters